My 10¢ Pace slot machine project, that wasn't supposed to be a project...

[shortrackskater]

I've always wanted a US made dime machine. I'm still hunting for a Mills but I found a cool little, heavy as sh*t Pace, made in 1961.
I'm on that "other" forum that specialized more in old mechanicals and got lot of information from Monti.
After more research I'm fairly certain that this came from Harvey's Casino, partly blown up in 1980 from a bomb. In fact, it's highly likely it was in there for the blast.
These machines were all originally set up in banks with the cash containers below. And a lot were crudely modified to have door open alerts and top candles etc. Mine ended up at a "stand alone" (no hotel) casino called Eddies Fabulous 50's, therefore the reel strips and belly glass were changed to reflect that (damn!). Finally it ended up at a retailer names "Aancient Slots." I'm not sure when it got painted blue though because it was Harveys red. I can see it remaining in some areas.
The top has a thin metal plate neatly welded on and, from the underside it's clear that was where a top candle was. It's definitely had some patches and parts welded, as if they were just broken, not modified. I bought the machine from the son of the original purchaser, who paid a whopping $1395 + $29 for the Mead manual, back in 1988. I paid $240 for it with the manual included! The first thing I did, like an idiot,  was accidentally snap off the head of the nice Illinois lock co DUO cabinet-style lock! I had pulled the handle down and just kept pulling, not realizing it was hitting the stupid key that extends out way too far! And this was how they were made originally. UGH!
Luckily I found a real locksmith in my area who made me a new key from what was left of the key. He had never seen a lock like that with the upper, lower serrations and the notches in the center.
And now the project part: the refurbished just made small stands for these to sit on, with nice cutouts for the original cash tray. The back has just a drawer type door with just a knob on it and a catch inside. And the cash "box" was a Marie Calandars pie tin!
I like my machines to look more "casino-ish" so I looked around and found a repo cash can for a Buckley mechanical, from Dave Bertan. That can JUST fit inside but I had to make a piece of PVC pipe to add to the payout chute in order to divert the dimes to the box opening, more to the side. That was an ordeal (a fun one) just making the pipe work. I'm no fabricator at all. My work is just trial and error basically.
After that, I pulled off the protruding handle (tack welded) off the can since it would not allow the door to close. I found nice pull tab (like in most old cash cans) and found a bracket that I bent and wrapped around the tap as a hinge and soldered that on the can, then grinder and sanded it until it looked good enough for me. Those cans are crude anyway. Finally I painted the can green.
Next was the door. The way they installed the hinge, it wouldn't allow enough space for the box, since it didn't swing down. One eighth of an inch was all they needed! So,  I removed the door completely and set it aside.
Inside the case I added a wooden guide for the left side of the box. Back to the door - I bought a cheap cam lock, removed the silly knob and enlarged the hole. The damn thing was sooooooooo close to fitting but the screw hit the front of the can! 
It's amazing what things can be done, though, to make something fit. For this ONE thing, I first filed the screw that holds the cam on. I filed as much as possible, leaving a teeny amount of "Phillips hole" for it to work. Still bumped the can but I got more room. Next I removed the cam off and filed it. Got a little more room, but still not enough. Then I removed the can and just pounded the back side with my mallet. CLOSE!! Last, I removed the lock and added one more retainer (I think that's what it's called) or basically stacked two retainers. You can't tell there's two and it brought the lock back just enough to close!
Then I lined up the hinge and drilled new holes for the hinge. Well I drilled a starter hole since there's no room for the drill to be straight.  Then I just carefully screwed them back into the fiberboard case.
Last I had to cut a notch for the cam to go into. I just used a small cutting wheel back on my drill and sawed it in. After repeated sawing, the lock finally closed! SUCCESS.
I'm definitely no pro at this but I did it! The last thing I want to do is remove the machine back off the stand and "un-warp" the back side of the case. I think I may just have to re-drill the two holes that hold the thing on or just add a support in the middle to draw the top back down.
The last picture here is the original handle on the cash can, hard to see.

[shortrackskater]

Last pictures...
Now it looks like a real slot machine!